Turnabout of Crossroads
by Ace Attorney2
Summary: This is the case after Classroom Turnabout. Phoenix and Maya take a confusing case that will put their client on the line. CHAPTER 5 IS UP!
1. Chapter 1

**Here's my second PW fic. It's sometime after Classroom Turnabout. Enjoy!**

**Turnabout of Crossroads:**

"_Hi_."

"_Hey_."

"_It's nice to see you again_."

"_Well, don't just keep standin' there_! _Hop in_!"

_Slam_!_ Click_!_ Vr-vr-vr-VROOOM_!

"_So_,_ it's been_…"

"_Two years_. _Yeah_."

"_Anything I missed out on, Mick_?"

"_Yep_. _I was offered this new job_. _I accepted_, _of course_."

"_I see_. _So_, _where did you say we were headed_?"

"_I'll show you_._ Hold yer horses_!_ Just meetin_' _an old friend_."

"_All right then_."

_VROOOM_!

"_Well_, _there he is_!"

"_Do I know him_?"

"_No_. _Hang on a sec_."

_Click_!_ Screee_-!

"_So_, _yer showed up_, _eh_?"

"_Erm_…_ yes_. _Um_…_ about earlier today_…"

"_Give it a rest_, _bud_! _You blew it_!_ And you deserve some discipline_!"

"_Please_! _You have to give me another chance_!"

"_You already used up all yer chances_!"

"_Chances_? _What_'_s going on_?"

_Clunk_! _Tap_!

"_Now_, _it_'_s time that yer are not a problem anymore_!"

"…!"

"_Time to meet yer end_!"

"_Uuuuuuaaaagh_!"

"_There_! _All done_!"

"_NOOOOOOO_! _Give it here_! _Hurgh_!"

"_Aagh_!"

_TAP TAP TAP tap tap tap_…

"…_He_'_s gone_!_ Now_, _time to fix this mess an_'_ get outta here_."

(June 7, 8:00 a.m., Wright and Co. Law Offices)

I opened the door to my office. The lights were off, so I turned them on. As usual, Maya was lying on the office sofa with several empty packages of burgers in front of her. Ignoring her, knowing she was okay, I sat down behind my desk where I met the usual mess of papers. I have to clean this soon, I thought while organizing the papers from my briefcase.

Suddenly, the Steel Samurai theme song played from my pocket on the loud setting. Maya woke with a start and exclaimed, "TAKE THAT EVIL MAGISTRATE… huh? Oh! Hey, Nick!"

I signaled her to quiet down as the clicked the answer button and put the phone up to my ear.

"Um… hello?" I asked.

"…_Phoenix Wright_, _is it_?" came a calm voice from the other end.

"Yes, this is Wright. Is there a problem?"

"… _I need your help_, _Mr_. _Wright_. _I am being accused for a crime and I need an attorney_."

"What crime was it?" I asked, expecting the usual.

"…_Murder_." Came the answer. _Typical_ I thought to myself.

"_My name is Arnold Backer and I am at the Detention Center in downtown_," he continued, "_Can you help me_?"

I paused for a second and answered, "All right, Mr. Backer. I'll come down and look at your situation."

"_I can_'_t thank you enough_,_ Mr. Wright_!" BEEP! He hung up the phone. I looked at it for a second and then sighed.

"Who was that?" asked Maya, who was now standing in front of me.

"Another person accused of murder," I answered, " He is at the Detention Center now."

" Well, what are we waiting for, Nick? Let's go!"

"Maya, I just got here! Can't we wait an hour or so? I have a lot of work to get done!"

"No, Nick. 'Those in most trouble must be counted first'! Says Auntie Morgan!"

(Editor's Note: Morgan Fey does NOT say this in Justice For All. I just made it up… or maybe not.)

I rolled my eyes. _Says a traitor_. "All right then, Maya. I'll come. But you are paying for the taxi this time. Hopefully, the same one that dropped me off didn't go too far!"

Well, that's the intro of this long episode! Meeting the client and the investigation is in the next chapter. Right now I am working on it and it may take a little while.

**End of Chapter 1**


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 2: This is where the investigation is.**

**Turnabout of Crossroads Part 2:**

(June 7, 8:10 a.m., Detention Center)

After a short drive downtown, Maya and I made it to the Detention Center. As I walked in, I checked the names list to see which booth Arnold was at. I found his name and walked to booth no. 4. On the other end of the glass, a brown-haired man with sunglasses and a vested suit sat on the other end.

"You must be Wright, right?" asked the man.

"That's me," I said. "And this is Maya, my assistant in court."

"How are you?" asked Maya cheerfully. Arnold gave us a sad look in reply. "Oh! I'm sorry," Maya apologized, "I didn't know the situation was that bad."

"No," said Arnold, "I suppose it is my fault I was arrested."

"Mr. Backer," I said sternly, "I would like to know what happened and why you were arrested."

Arnold sighed, "Well, it started that I was given an invitation to meet an old friend of mine. So I came to this city to meet him."

"Who's 'he', Mr. Backer?" I asked curiously.

"Mickey," he replied sadly, "Mickey Foner. He, I, and another friend of mine, were old friends through college. I was offered a job as a tax collector and they got other jobs. We were separated two years ago until yesterday night."

"Why?" asked Maya. "What happened last night?"

"Mickey invited me to come ride in his truck and meet someone." Arnold explained. "When we met the person, Mickey, he…he…" His voice trailed off and streams of tears were flowing behind his sunglasses.

"Arnold?" Maya said softly. "What did Mickey do?"

Arnold lifted up his sunglasses to wipe his eyes then continued, "He killed the man we were meeting with a knife. He stabbed him!"

Maya gasped and I closed my eyes for a second. Then I said, "I don't see why they would arrest you for this, Mr. Backer."

"Actually," said Arnold, "the reason that happened was because I grabbed the knife and ran off with it. A witness saw me, called the police, and they picked me up to find that the knife had my fingerprints on them. Then they investigated the crime scene and found that the wound was the same shape as the knife and the blood on the knife matched. So they put me in handcuffs and brought me here saying I have to go to court to settle things." He looked up at me, "And that's why I called you to defend me in court. Will you take my case?"

Maya looked at me worriedly, waiting for an answer. Then I said, "Of course I will defend you. You were at the wrong place at the wrong time, and it is wrong that you were arrested for this." I stood up and said, "There are no worries for this situation, Mr. Backer, because you are innocent and we believe you."

Before I knew it, Arnold brightened up and said, "Thank you Mr. Wright! I knew I could count on you!"

"Don't you worry, Arnold," said Maya happily, "We'll have this case in the bag!"

"Time to go, Maya," I said.

Arnold looked puzzled, "Where are you going?"

I answered, "To go investigate, of course. We have things to examine, files to be documented, and people to explain what you said happened. With luck, there may not be a trial tomorrow!"

"Wow," said Arnold amazedly, " Can you really do this in one day?"

"Of course," I said. "But first, can you tell me where you went last night?"

"Um… sure!" Arnold said hurriedly. He wrote out an address on a sheet of paper and handed it to me, "The place you are looking for is at Fuel Up gas station uptown."

"Thank you, Mr. Backer," I said.

"Yes," exclaimed Maya, "You have your hopes on us, Arnold!"

"Thanks, Mr. Wright and Maya," said Arnold, now happy, "for your time. I should be resting now." He stood up and left the booth, walked passed the security guard and through the door.

"All right then," I said, "Let's check out this murder scene." Maya nodded.

(June 7, 8:25 a.m., Fuel Up Gas Station Parking Lot)

The putrid stench of gas fluids filled my nose. We arrived at the station where police investigators were on the other end of the street examining the road where a dried puddle of blood and a tire of a large semi-truck were. Curious, I walked across the street to find the one in charge. And just like always, I heard that familiar barking voice:

"Hey! Pal! This is a murder scene!" Gumshoe shouted at us. "Get back to the station and… oh! It's you pal."

"Yes," I replied. "Busy day for the investigation team?"

"Well what did you think, pal?" said Gumshoe, while turning his head to see two police officers examining the ground for footprints. "I had to get here at about 1:00 to take Arnold Backer into custody. I assume you are defending him in court."

"Yep," said Maya. "We're here to get some evidence for the trial. We really are going to pull this one off."

"I wouldn't say it that easily, pal." Gumshoe acknowledged. "We discovered some tight evidence about the murder that may give poor Arnold a guilty sentence easily."

"We have to say the same thing," I uttered, "about Arnold. You see, he claims he saw who murdered the victim. And he grabbed the knife out of the killer's hands making his fingerprints implanted on it. This accusation is a mistake."

"Alright then, pal," said Gumshoe. "Tell us who he said saw the murder and we'll investigate. If you are right about this, then we could call the trial off."

Hopefulness swam through me. _Is it this easy_? "Okay Gumshoe," I said, "Mr. Backer said he saw and 'old friend' called Mickey Foner who gave him a ride to meet the victim."

"Okay, pal," Gumshoe said, "That's great! Now, we just have to… hang on a sec. Did you just say that Arnold saw Mr. Foner kill someone?"

"Yes," I said triumphantly. "He said he was true to his word."

"Well, that is not possible, pal," Gumshoe proclaimed disappointedly. "You see, the victim here is none other than Mickey Foner himself."

"Wh-WHAAAT?!" Maya exclaimed.

_This could NOT be happening_ I thought despairingly.

"Unless Backer said he saw two murders," continued Gumshoe. "Which is not possible either since there is only one kind of blood over there."

"You're kidding!" I argued, feeling very upset.

"I know," Maya said sadly, "What are we going to tell Arnold?"

"It looks like I left you two in a tight spot," Gumshoe observed. "But there is still hope for you. We found something in the observation!"

"What is that?" I asked knowing there was going to be a trial after all.

"We searched the killer's car which was about three miles from this scene," explained Gumshoe. "Inside it were fingerprints on the steering wheel. The…erm…fingerprints belonged to Mickey himself!"

"Wh-What?" I said, astounded again. "What would the victim be doing driving around in Mr. Backer's car?"

"We are unsure why, pal," said Gumshoe, "But there is a possibility that he rode in the car, Backer got angry and killed him."

"That doesn't seem to be a good reason at all," Maya cried, "Nick and I know that Arnold is a nice man and wouldn't get angry at someone for that stupid thing!"

"Tell that to the court then," said Gumshoe. Then he turned to me, "Now, pal, if there is anything you want to know about the crime scene, just ask me."

I looked around and said, "That is a large puddle! I don't think stabbing someone would make them lose that much."

"Oh, that!" said Gumshoe. "Well that was how the body was found, pal. A semi-truck was driving down this way late at night and bumped over the dead body. The weight and pressure erm… 'squirted' the rest of the blood out. Then the driver discovered it and made the call."

Maya grimaced, "How horrible!"

"But we were lucky that it didn't run over the stab wound," continued Gumshoe, "or else we would have never accused Backer for this."

"Speaking of damages to the body," I said, trying to bring it off topic, "has an autopsy report come out yet?"

"I'm afraid not, pal," Gumshoe sighed. "They are still examining Foner as we speak and the report should be out by tomorrow's trial."

"Um…" said Maya unexpectedly, "Do you know who the prosecutor of this case is? We may need to know in future time who it is to get a jump-start on their style."

Gumshoe looked at her for a minute then sighed, "I may not know it, but I think that Edgeworth may want to be involved with this case. He seemed confident when I called him about the evidence."

"What pieces of evidence are there?" I asked importantly. "We may need to get as much as we can for tomorrow's trial. How can you help us?"

"Well, pal," said Gumshoe, "We searched Backer's car and found that it was empty. But the fuel was empty, which is all we could find. Plus there was a coupon to this gas station."

"Hey, Nick," said Maya slowly, "Isn't that kinda odd?"

"What do you mean?" I said curiously.

"Well, think about it," she continued, "It's just three miles away from this gas station yet it is empty of gas!"

_She_'_s right_! I thought. I took out a few empty court papers and scribbled this down quickly. Then I asked Gumshoe, "Do you have the coupon right now?"

"Of course," he said, "I have an extra right here, pal." He handed it to me and I stuffed it into my briefcase. But I had one more question for Gumshoe:

"Is there anyplace that could tell me about Backer's car?"

"Sure pal," Gumshoe said simply, "We found that the car company he got it from is just down this street a little ways. I haven't checked it yet, but I'll give you two a break and let you two look around."

"Thank you for your help, Gumshoe," I said.

"No problem, pal," he chuckled. "I should be going anyways now." He walked back to the crime scene where an investigator rushed up to him and talked to him about the tires to the semi.

"Well," said Maya finally, "at least we are somewhere on this case."

"I guess you're right," I said with a stroke of optimism. "Let's go to this car dealership."

But before we could even take one more step away from the crime scene, Gumshoe rushed up to us saying, "Hold on! You might want to take this!" He gave us a photograph of an empty car on the sidewalk.

"This is Arnold's car, isn't it?" Maya asked.

"Yep!" said Gumshoe. Then he turned to me, "You might want to hand that photo over to the dealership, pal, so they can identify the car."

I looked at the almost empty photo then at Gumshoe. Then I said, "We can't thank you enough, Gumshoe!" I opened my briefcase and stuffed the photograph into it. Gumshoe smiled and hurried away.

"Well, let's go!" said Maya. I nodded and we left the crime scene.

(June 7, 8:45 a.m., Dealership Parking Lot)

What seemed like hundreds of cars greeted us with their flags on the antennae and white colored prices slapped on the windshield. I worked my way through the "maze" to see if I could find the darned building.

"Wow!" exclaimed Maya. "I have never seen so many cars in my life! How come you don't have your license again, Nick?"

"It's a long story," I replied, not wishing to repeat the embarrassing accident I had at the DMV.

Then a man in a white business suit and a green tie walked up to us and asked, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Assuming he worked here, I answered, "Yes, actually. Did you hear about the murder down the street?"

"Of course I have," said the man, "And why are you here at this time?"

"We the lawyers of the man we're defending!" Maya blurted out. "We have come here to ask you about something."

"All right then," said the man, looking pleased with himself, "Fire away! I'm an open book!"

Rolling my eyes, I searched through my briefcase and found the photo. Taking it out, I held it in front of me so the dealer could see it. "This is the car that the police say is relevant to the case." I said. "Can you tell me anything about it?"

He took the picture and looked at it. Then he said, "Well, I know that it came from here. Do you know whose car this was?"

"It was Arnold Backer's," said Maya.

"Hang on a second," said the man, "I'm going to look through the company files to check the car. The license plate on the car should tell me enough."

"Okay," I said, "We'll wait right here."

The man walked away with the photo in his hands. He disappeared behind several rows of cars before Maya turned to me, "What kind of information do you think they have on Arnold's car?"

"We'll see in a few moments," I replied. "What we should do after this is to go back to the Detention Center and ask Backer a few more questions from him. I think I'm a little suspicious that he said Mickey killed someone yet it is Mickey himself who is dead."

"We just have to believe him, Nick! It's what won us through other cases!"

I looked at Maya for a moment then sighed. I knew she was right. But the nagging thought always came to me that all my clients are tied to the reason of the murder. This case needed evidence, and it's evidence I am going to need! Finally, after about the ten minutes that passed, the dealer came back with a few papers in his hands.

"I have the results," he said. "But the friend you said this car belonged to is not here!"

Maya's eyes grew wide and asked, "It doesn't belong to Arnold? Then whose car is it then?"

"Well," he sighed, "It took me a little to go through the records, but I managed to also make a copy of the files." He held out another sheet. "And it looks like the owner of the car you showed me belonged to someone called Mickey Foner."

Maya gasped and I just stared. I took the second sheet he held out to me and I looked at it. Right on the file under "Names" it repeated the name of the victim: "Mickey Foner".

"Are you sure this is right?" I asked him.

"That's what the paper says," he replied. "Now, is there any other business that I could interest you in?"

"Umm…No." I said while putting the car file into my briefcase. "All we can say is thank you for giving us this information."

"Your welcome," responded the man kindly. "I should be going now."

"Wait!" said Maya.

"What?" asked the man.

"We didn't get your name." Maya said.

"Oh," he said looking embarrassed. "Just call me Harold."

"Thank you Harold!" said Maya. Harold smiled then walked away. "So, Nick, what should we do now?"

I stood there thinking for a minute then answered, "I think its time to see Arnold again."

"I don't know where this is going, Nick. But I assume this is a lawyer thing. Let's go!"

(June 7, 9:05 a.m., Detention Center)

W arrived back at the Detention Center and walked into the building. Arnold wasn't at his booth, so I used the phone on my side to call him. After a minute, Arnold walked back through the door with his sunglasses off. His eyes looked tired due to the fact that he took a nap in his cell.

"Is something wrong?" he asked groggily. "I was told there was something you wanted to ask me."

"A few things, in fact," I said, "We were wondering if it WAS Mickey you were in the car with. Are you sure it was him? Not anyone else?"

"Of course," Arnold said, "Why are you asking me this?"

"Well," started Maya, "the problem with your whole situation is because the victim is Mickey."

Arnold gaped at us. He looked from Maya to me as if one of us were about to shout "April Fool!" But neither of us said anything as Arnold took in what he just heard. Finally, he inhaled a deep breath, exhaled, and said in a shaking voice, "I can see that this has gone from bad to worse! There seems to be no way out now!"

I exchanged looks with Maya then said, "But not just yet! We have another question." I searched through my briefcase for the photo Gumshoe gave me and held it up against the window to the cell, "Do you recognize this car?"

Arnold stared at the photo for a second then said, "Yeah! That's Mickey's car. He took me in it to the crime scene!"

"Are you sure it isn't yours?" asked Maya.

"No," he said. "I've never owned a car! I only take taxi's to work and back everyday!"

I stuffed the photo back into my briefcase and looked at Arnold triumphantly. "Congratulations Mr. Backer!" I said. "You have the right man for your case!"

Maya and Arnold looked confused, and then I said, "You have proven your innocence to me by just telling me something. First, you stuck to your word that Mickey did it and it wasn't you. Second, you recognized that it was Mickey's car I showed you without me even telling you whose it was!"

Maya looked surprised and Arnold just stared at me. Then he said, "Do you really mean this, Mr. Wright?"

Before I said anything, Maya burst out, "Of course we do! If you say that it was Mickey who was the murderer, then darn right you are! We believe in our clients to prove their innocence! And you are definitely innocent, Arnold!"

After a moment or two of silence, Arnold smiled at us and a stream of tears rolled down his cheeks. He lifted his sleeve to wipe them. When he was finished, he was still smiling at us and said, "I haven't been this moved for a while. Thank you both for taking my case!"

Maya nodded. I smiled also. But I had one more question: "Mr. Backer, there is something else I was wondering. Did you see who Mickey murdered was?"

Arnold shook his head then replied, "It was a little dark. The lights from across the street at the gas station shone on his back but I was unable to see his face. But his figure looked so recognizable to me, I think I've seen him before!"

"Who was he, Arnold?" asked Maya.

But at that moment, the intercom in the building sounded off: "_Visiting hours are now over for today. Tomorrow will be doubled extended hours. Have a nice day_!"

The guard at the other end walked over to Arnold and gestured for him to get up. Arnold stood and said a few last words to us, "Sorry, but I've got to go now. I suppose I'll see you in court tomorrow."

"Bye, Arnold," said Maya. He waved and walked through the open iron door. Both of us still sat there in mute silence until I finally got up.

"The only thing we have to do now is get ready for the trial tomorrow," I said. Maya stood and followed me down the hall.

"The good thing is that we have a whole day for us to look through evidence," she said. I nodded as we walked out of the building. As I hailed an oncoming taxi, a thought came into my head.

_Who was the man Arnold said Mickey saw murdered_?

_Does he have relevance to what is happening_?

_Why did Arnold say he recognized him_?

I don't know what is going on, but I felt that the man Arnold saw was the key to this entire case!

End of Part 2 

**Whew! Sorry this took a while! I had several things going on and had only little time to work on this. Part 3 is coming and it is the trial. Stay 'tooned!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 is up! I made it a little short due to all the hard work. 

**Turnabout of Crossroads Part 3:**

(June 8, 9:45 a.m., District Court Defendant's Lobby No. 2)

Early morning hours didn't seem to wake me up very much today. But after two cups of espresso coffee, I felt refreshed and ready to tackle today's case. When Maya and I arrived at the courthouse, we found Arnold sitting on the sofa under supervision by the two guards at the courtroom door. He was looking nervous but brightened up when he saw us walk in.

"So, Wright," Arnold began, "I suppose this is the day when I could get judged or get set free."

"Probably," I responded. "But I could sometimes stall the court to give us enough time for another day. It works every time."

"I know," said Arnold, "I actually watched one of your trials before. Where you defended HER…" he pointed at Maya. "…and then you defended yourself." He pointed at me. "You truly never give up to find the truth."

"That's because he is THE Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney!" exclaimed Maya. "The defense never rests unless he is on the case!"

(Editor's Note: I had Maya call Phoenix "Ace Attorney" because she seemed like the kind of person who would say it!)

I covered my eyes with my hand in embarrassment as Maya said that. _Sometimes_, _I wonder about this girl_ I thought to myself.

"Maya," I said, "I think it's time you stop watching episode specials of the Gold Samurai late at night. You always turn out funny the next day!"

(Another Editor's Note: The Gold Samurai is a parody of the Steel Samurai and the Nickel Samurai in the first two PW games. It is not owned by CAPCOM. I made it up.)

Arnold smiled at Maya. "I like that show," he said to her. "But I only watch it on the weekend when I'm not busy."

"Umm…" I said, getting their attention, "either I am missing out on things, or we are going off-topic. WE HAVE A TRIAL TODAY!" I put a lot of emphasis in it.

Both of them looked surprised at my last few words. Arnold spoke first, "I'm sorry, Wright. I usually feel less nervous when I think of other things and distract myself for a little."

I sighed. "I'm sorry too. But I need to concentrate on the trial if I have to help someone. You have to understand that they are serious in there (well, most of the time) when it comes to murder."

Arnold smiled. But before we could do anything else, a man in a maroon suit and a frilly cravat walked up to us with a hard expression on his face. It was Miles Edgeworth.

He scowled at me then said, "Wright, I just heard you were taking this case. Is this true?"

I raised my eyebrows and replied, "Do you see any other lawyers here?"

He paused for a second then said, "Just as a warning, Wright, I won't be going easy on you this time. Last time, when I won, it seemed so great being the first prosecutor to out-win you." He glared at us again. "You have yet to get far in this case, Wright."

"Don't forget that you're over-cockiness lost your first few cases with Nick," Maya burst in. "When you two met again, you forged to win. You cheated!"

Edgeworth shook his head and looked uneasy. "I have already told you. Those days are over. What I seek now is only the truth." He straightened up again and looked at me. "And I will use your help to get it as you always get my help." He turned to Arnold. "You won't get away easily either."

Edgeworth walked away from us and through the wide courtroom doors, which seemed to have opened while we weren't paying attention. As he disappeared from our view, I inhaled a lot of air. I was unaware of why I just did that.

"It seems like the other side has more competition," Arnold finally said. "And it seems you knew him for a while. Was he always like this?"

I closed my eyes and said, "He changed a little while ago, but it's a long story." I reopened them. "Right now, we should be worrying about your problems, Mr. Backer."

Maya checked the small clock on the wall. "Its time to go in," she said.

We nodded then followed Edgeworth into the courtroom.

(June 8, 10:00 a.m., District Court, Courtroom B)

Arnold seemed to know that the he had to sit at the defendant's table and departed with us. Maya took her seat next to me at the Defense table as I opened my briefcase to organize my papers and records. At the Prosecutors table, Edgeworth stood behind his desk with his arms crossed, looking cool and collected. The crowd in the upper stands just walked in, took their seats, and began talking with their neighbors.

_We are a little early_ I said to myself. I took this advantage to look through all my files one last time before the judge entered. The copy of the purchase of the car caught my eye. Looking at it, I remembered it was Mickey's car, not Arnold's.

_That's right_. I thought. _We have a trump card_. _Gumshoe or the Criminal Affairs didn't look over this_. _It looks like I'm a step ahead of this case_.

At that moment, the judge walked through the High Doors, took his seat, and banged his gavel once to quiet everyone.

"The trial for Arnold Backer will begin," he said.

"The prosecution is ready, Your Honor," Edgeworth said.

"The defense is ready, Your Honor," I said.

"Good," the judge said. Then he turned to Edgeworth, "Will the prosecution please brief us about the murder."

"Certainly, Your Honor," said Edgeworth simply. "It was June 7 at 1:30 a.m. when the body of the victim, Mickey Foner, was discovered at the crime scene. That is to say, across the street from Fuel Up gas station. A call was made during the discovery and the police investigated. Eventually, they found the defendant, Arnold Backer, who happened to have the knife that stabbed the victim." Then Edgeworth took a quick bow. "End of story," he said.

"I see," the judge nodded, and then he turned to me, "Mr. Wright, do you have any thoughts on the Prosecutor's statement?"

"Yes, Your Honor," I said. "I have to ask, why would Arnold be arrested if he was just discovered holding the murder weapon? That doesn't necessarily prove that HE murdered the victim."

Edgeworth shook his head and looked at me triumphantly and said, "You just aren't caught up in the details, Wright. Allow me to explain: a witness saw Mr. Backer flee the crime scene with a knife in hand. Further reports after bringing Arnold in for questioning said that he knew the defendant, making his crime having a reason for murder."

I began sweating. _Oh, perfect_! _Now HE'S one step ahead in this case_!

"Very well, then," said the judge. "Now then, Mr. Edgeworth, I believe that Gumshoe should brief us about the murder scene."

"Yes, Your Honor," said Edgeworth, then he turned to the bailiff who was standing near the courtroom doors, "Please summon Gumshoe to the stand."

The bailiff nodded and exited the court. A minute later, Gumshoe appeared through the door with the bailiff following and stood behind the witness stand.

Then Edgeworth said, "Name and occupation, please."

"Dick Gumshoe," said Gumshoe. "I am the detective in charge of this case."

"All right, detective," began the judge, "can you please tell us anything about the murder scene?"

"Yes, Your Honor. We have some very decisive evidence with us today that was discovered." Gumshoe paused a moment to look through his papers that he was holding and set them down in front of him. When he was done, he began his testimony; "The murder was taken place around 12:10 p.m. on June 7. Two witnesses called us to say that a murder was taken place near Fuel Up gas station. When we arrived, we found two ways that the victim could have died. The first is when he was stabbed and died through a loss of blood. The second is if he was barely alive and the oncoming truck that discovered him ran over him and killed him. But still, this still makes the attacker the murderer, pal."

The judge's eyes were shut, absorbing the conversation. Then he said, "I think that will do, Gumshoe." He was about to signal me to begin when Gumshoe interrupted.

"Oh, by the way, pal," he said to me. "The autopsy was released." He rummaged through his large overcoat, pulled out a manila folder and handed it to me. I opened it and looked though the details:

"Time of Death: 12:10-12:15.

Cause of Death: Loss of blood. Knife was stabbed close to heart."

"There was also the report about when the driver reported the murder," continued Gumshoe. "His call was through a pay phone and the operator managed to have a printed slip of the crime." He handed a small slip to me. I checked it to find typed words on the paper:

"Call in: 12:33

Call charge: Emergency

Call out: 12:35"

Maya whispered quickly to me, "Gee, don't you think one of his statements were kind of off?"

I looked at her quizzically. "What to you mean?" I asked.

"Oh, you'll see," she replied smugly. I felt annoyed that someone with low expertise knew something over me.

Then the judge cleared his throat and said, "Wright, are you ready to cross-examine of should I call this testimony off?"

I answered, "Of course I am ready, Your Honor,"

"Very well," he said.

I turned to Gumshoe and said, "So you are saying that the truck might have killed him. At what time do you think he got ran over?"

"We aren't sure, pal," he said, "But we suppose it was around 12:30. The witness said he felt a bump and went back to discover it. He searched for a phone and called. We could say that it took about three minutes. So it would definitely was about at 12:30 if he was murdered."

"OBJECTION!" I countered. I still had the autopsy folder on my desk so there was no need to take it out. Then I said, "Were you in a hurry to get to this trial, Gumshoe? Because you obviously did not have the time read the autopsy report."

"Wright," questioned the judge, "what are you driving at?"

"Yes," Edgeworth came also, "please tell the whole court what problem there is."

_Ugh, does Edgeworth always have to butt in_? But I continued, "Gumshoe said that there was a possibility that the victim was killed when he was ran over, but the autopsy says that the victim was killed within the five minutes he was stabbed: 12:10-12:15. Therefore, the victim could not have been killed during the discovery!"

The crowd started to murmur. The judge banged his gavel a few times to silence them. Gumshoe recovered first, "Ah. That's my fault, pal. The Criminal Affairs Department didn't have time to look over evidence twice."

"See that it doesn't happen again, Gumshoe," said Edgeworth. Then he turned to me, "Seriously, Wright, if you are going to point out mistakes, you have to have a better reason that involved the case."

"Yes," said the judge, "And never do that again!"

_Why is everyone ganging up on me_? I thought, but I still held my ground. "Gumshoe, is there anything else you can tell us about the murder scene?"

Gumshoe brightened up at this, "Sure, pal. We haven't explained how the defendant arrived at the scene."

"Very well, then," said the judge, "Please testify about the location of the crime scene."

Gumshoe took a deep breath and started his second testimony; "At the crime scene, we found another pair of tire tracks. That is, they weren't the ones of the truck driver who discovered the body, pal. They belonged to a different car, who we believe is the defendant himself." At this point in Gumshoe's testimony, I thought to myself _There it is_! _Now I just have to present my trump card_! Gumshoe continued, "We thought that the victim took of with the car and Backer got angry and killed him."

The judge's eyes were wide when Gumshoe finished. "A revenge shot?! How horrible!"

Yes, Your Honor," said Edgeworth. "The car was discovered some distance from the crime scene." He presented a copy of the same photograph that I had of the car to the judge.

"I see," said the judge after examining the picture. Then he turned to me, "Mr. Wright, if you please."

I nodded then pressed Gumshoe, "You said it was Backer's car, are you sure?"

"Actually, we really can't tell, pal," replied Gumshoe, "We really just guessed it was his."

"OBJECTION!" I exclaimed to Gumshoe. "I find that hard to believe, because it wasn't Backer's car."

"Well, then, Mr. Wright," prompted Edgeworth, "What is your opinion on this matter?"

"Yes," said the judge, "do tell."

I pulled out the papers of Foner's purchase of the car, then I told Gumshoe, "These are the papers that state who owned the car, Gumshoe. I left to the car dealership where the car was sold and discovered that the car was not bought by my client, but was bought by the victim himself! Mickey Foner!"

The crowd in the upper stands was in an uproar. The judge's gavel landed a few times. "Order in the court!" he shouted, then turned to me, "Mr. Wright, are you saying that Arnold never owned a car?"

"OBJECTION!" shouted Edgeworth, and then declared, "Wright, our records tell me that Backer works clear on the other end of the city from where he lives. He needs a car. Explain!"

"That's easy, Edgeworth," I said, thinking it through, "You see, Backer and I are in the same boat. He is a tax collector and I am a lawyer. We have enough money to go around to pay a taxi."

"Mr. Wright!" exclaimed the judge. "Are you saying that your client takes only a taxi?"

"Precisely, Your Honor," I said. "There are no records that Backer bought a car, making the car discovered the victim's, Mickey Foner. Gumshoe has just told us that Mr. Backer would have a motive for killing the victim when his car was stolen. Ergo, Arnold would have no motive for killing the victim if the victim drove his own car!"

"Ah!" said Gumshoe with a shocked look on his face. Again, the upper crowd was bursting with noise.

The judge pounded his gavel a few more times to silence the crowd. When they quieted again, the judge shook his head in amazement and looked at me, "Mr. Wright, you have yet amazed me with how you performed. It seems the prosecution has fallen short of a victory."

I seemed calm on the outside but on the inside, I was truly astounded with myself. _Did I underestimate myself again_?

The judge continued, "I could easily pass a not guilty verdict now unless if the prosec-…"

"OBJECTION!" Edgeworth burst out. All eyes in the court were on him now.

"Oh no!" Maya exclaimed to me. "What is Edgeworth cooking up in that little mind of his now?!"

"I have no idea," I responded, "he's as stubborn as ever!"

"Er… is something wrong, Mr. Edgeworth?" asked the judge through his wide eyes.

Edgeworth just stood on the spot with his for a second then opened them looking triumphant. "Yes there is, Your Honor," he replied. "You remember how I told you this morning that I have prepared a witness to the crime?"

"Wh-Why! Yes I have!"

_What_?! I thought to myself. _Edgeworth got himself a witness to the crime_?

"This is bad!" said Maya.

"Every time Edgeworth says something, everything goes wrong," I replied to her.

Then Edgeworth, looking cool again, spoke to the court, "The prosecution has not run out of ammunition yet. I would like to call Harold Manner, witness to the murder, to the stand to testify!"

Dun dun DUN! 

It looks like the prosecution never gives up without a fight! The next chapter is currently in progress and it covers the rest of the trial day. It may take a while but I feel that this fic will be worth it! Don't miss Part 4 coming your way!

End of Part 3.


	4. Chapter 4

**Happy New Years!**

**Yeah! I'm back and I'm ready to keep writing. Sorry to keep you waiting, but here is the 4****th**** part.**

**Turnabout of Crossroads Part 4.**

Maya and I gaped. Both of us were thinking the same thing: _Harold_, _the guy who works at the car dealership_, _is a witness to this murder_?! I was wondering why he fell short of his sentence yesterday and said he only HEARD about it let alone SEE it.

"You have prepared a witness, Mr. Edgeworth?" the judge asked. "How come I wasn't informed of this?"

"My apologies, Your Honor," simpered Edgeworth, "But it is the least of my faults. He checked in this morning claiming he witnessed the murder."

At that moment, Gumshoe left the witness stand and left through the large courtroom doors. A minute later, he took his seat in the upper stands. Then the judge finally said, "Very well. Bailiff! Please summon Mr. Harold Manners to the stand!"

The bailiff nodded and exited through the courtroom doors. Almost a minute later, Harold entered with the bailiff following. Then Harold stood up in front of the witness stand. "Witness. Please state your name and occupation," Edgeworth barked at Harold.

Harold nodded and said, "My name is Harold Manners. I work as a car dealership man at Lee's New and Improved Cars."

"Very good, Mr. Manners," nodded the judge. "I was just informed that you checked in because you were a witness to the murder. Were you really at the crime scene?"

Harold did not respond. Instead, he just stood at the witness stand with his eyes wide and looked at every person assembled in the courtroom. He did not even seem to hear the judge.

"Erm…" said the judge, his eyes wide with surprise at the odd behavior of Harold. "Did you understand what I just said, Mr. Manners? Were you at the murder scene at the time of the crime?"

Harold still didn't respond, yet his only sign of life was the movement of his eyes looking around the scene. This time I spoke, "Mr. Manners, you are standing trial. All we want is information from you. It is okay if you are a little…" But at that moment, I was unable to finish my sentence because Harold just spoke:

"Holy…MOLEY!" he just exclaimed. "I have not been to a gathering of so much people before! I must begin my business! This is a big opportunity for me! I must speak with every single person in this building! This will be a big financial boom!" He turned to the judge, ignoring the crowd talking out loud. "Sir, I believe that you are a man in need of a good car! We have all the cars in the book at Lee's New and Improved Cars! You just name what taste you have for a car and we'll do the rest!" Harold whipped out a pen and paper and began writing a list of details for a good car.

"T-taste?" asked the judge, now extremely taken back by Harold's sudden eccentric attitude. "Well, I don't know what taste I have for a good automobile. I have my good steed Charles who takes me where I want."

_Oh_, _Charlie Horse_! I thought to myself. _The serious level meter just dropped to _"_Stranger than Facts _"! Even Edgeworth was staring at Harold strangely, without a single word issuing out of his mouth. _Harold even shut Edgeworth up_! _THAT is amazing_!

Maya rolled her eyes at the off-top-icy and said, "Even Pearly doesn't have these hairy old manners. Our channeling business has no advertising!"

The judge and Harold were still jabbering on about the cars up for sale. The judge said, "I told you! My Charles is more loyal than some Gord, Folksvagon, and Monda car!"

"Fine," said Harold, "I will make a deal with you! If you buy any one of these cars, I will insure you with 50…"

Finally, Edgeworth burst out "OBJECTION!" to get Harold's attention. Harold looked in Edgeworth's direction confusedly. Then Edgeworth said, "Listen, bucko, this is the court of law and not a car dealership. If you peep a single thing about selling cars, I will contact your boss to have him deduct your pay for the next month!"

At this, Harold was finally quiet and looked around apologetically. Getting ready for a testimony, I said, "Now, let's get down to business, Mr. Manners. You claim that you saw the murder of Mickey Foner, is this true?"

"Yes," said Harold insecurely while looking at Edgeworth, "I was at the Fuel Up Gas Station across the street when I saw the murder."

"Very good," said the judge firmly, however, I could still detect the slightest bit of annoyance in his voice about Harold trying to get rid of his steed. "The court asks you to testify about what you saw when you arrived."

"Yes, sir," said Harold.

But before he could begin Edgeworth said, "To better understand the witness's testimony, Your Honor, the prosecution would like to submit a detailed map to the crime scene." He took out three sheets of the same photo and handed one to the judge and me. I looked at the map and it was the same when I was last at the gas station: The gas station was in the lower right corner filling about a fourth of the photo and across the street from it was the truck with a distinct painting of the bloody murder scene.

The judge nodded and said, "Very well, Mr. Edgeworth, the court accepts this to the Court Record."

Edgeworth bowed and said, "Now, Mr. Manners, please begin your testimony!"

"Of course," said Harold with the same intimidation from Edgeworth. He cleared his throat and began, "It was about 11:50 when Lee's New and Improved cars closed, and I was the last one on watch. So I locked up and decided to take my car to the gas station store for a snack. When I walked out from the store, I saw it happen! A man was stabbed and murdered before my very eyes! Then the murderer made his getaway to the library down the street. So I ran to the nearest phone booth I could find and called for help. Yep, that is pretty much what happened!"

The judge shook his head at the end of the testimony and said, "There seems nothing flawed with the testimony. Mr. Wright, if you are ready."

I nodded and said, "Yes, Your Honor." I turned to Harold and asked him, "Mr. Manners, you said that you went to call for an emergency. Can you tell me the time you called?"

"Of course," he said, feeling more at ease now. "It was just a jiffy after the murder!"

"Okay, then, Mr. Manners," said Edgeworth, "Tell us when this 'jiffy' was."

Harold seemed to shrink back at Edgeworth's words and said, "Yeah, okay."

"Be ready," said Maya, "He could pull off a lie right here!"

_Contradiction time_! I thought to myself.

Harold said, "I ran to take the call at around 12:10, just about at the time of the murder!"

_Aha_! I thought. I pulled out call-in slip from my folder and shouted "OBJECTION!"

Harold was quick enough to look at me as he looked at Edgeworth when he shouted the same words. Then I said, "Mr. Manners, I believe that you couldn't take the call at all."

"Well, why's that?" Harold asked crossly.

"Do explain," said Edgeworth.

"It is quite simple, actually," I said matter-of-factly, "The call-in slip right here said the operator took the call as emergency at 12:33. But Harold here said that he called at 12:10. So, Mr. Manners, how do you explain the emergency call you didn't take?"

Harold was sweating while saying, "ah…erm…right…yeah…um…"

But before Harold could answer, Edgeworth said, "That is easy enough to explain, Wright. I did a little research earlier today to find that the phone service was out of order due to an outage at a telephone line. So the phones in the area of the phone line could not be accessed!" Edgeworth slammed one of his palms on his desk. "Does that make sense now, Wright?"

"Wh-What?!" the judge exclaimed. "No phone service? So, Mr. Manners was not the one who called for the emergency?"

"Exactly, Your Honor," said Edgeworth, "The reports from the investigation of the area found that the phones would not work after the time of 12:05. They turned back on at around 12:30, which was close to the other emergency call that was made. So Wright, does that clear a few facts for you?"

I glared at Edgeworth because of his over-"achieve ness" that he always managed to pull off. Now that he was no longer a forger, his new style seems flawless. So I replied, "Yes, I understand now. But, I would like to hear from Mr. Manners exactly what he did in this 20 minute gap."

"Umm…What I did?" asked Harold.

"Yes," said Edgeworth, "I was also really wondering what you did when you couldn't call anyone." Then he turned towards the judge and implored, "With permission Your Honor?"

"Alright then," the judge said, then he addressed Harold, "Would you please testify what you did after coming back from the phone booth?"

Harold hesitated and said, "Fine."

"Harold doesn't seem to sure of himself, Nick," Maya whispered to me. "Whatever he says, it just doesn't seem to fit in the crime scene."

"Right," I said impatiently, "We may have to recall back on some of his statements."

"You may begin," said the judge to Harold.

Harold nodded then began, "Well, after I saw I couldn't call anyone, I decided to use my cell phone. However, I just remembered that I left it back at the car dealership. So I went back to the gas station to hop in my car. But my car was gone; it was stolen! I figured that it was the criminal who stole it because he needed a quick escape."

"It, it was stolen?" I said completely taken aback. But I wasn't the only one surprised: Edgeworth was leaning with his fists on his desk and glaring at Harold while muttering curses towards him. The judge was banging his gavel to quiet the whole courtroom.

"Order!" he shouted. "Order in the court!" When it was finally silent, he said, "Arnold Backer stole a car to make his getaway? This means he was also charged with theft!"

"It's what I saw, Your Honor," said Harold, "My car was zooming away when I got there!"

Suddenly, a word that the judge just said reminded me of what Harold said in his previous testimony. …_getaway_…

The judge and Harold were still arguing when they didn't notice that I pulled out the crime scene map and yelled, "OBJECTION!"

Harold and the judge stopped prattling on and turned their attention to me like everyone else. Then I said, "Mr. Manners, that statement you just said was a contradiction to what you just said earlier!"

"How is that so?" asked Harold.

"And what do you mean by 'earlier', Wright?" piped up the judge.

I looked at Harold and said, "You stated earlier that my defendant, Mr. Backer, made his 'getaway' towards the library when he ran away from the crime scene. This is true because the library is in this overview map." I pointed to the building in the picture to Harold and he nodded.

"So," said Edgeworth, "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said to him slyly, "I thought that you already figured it out!"

Edgeworth took another look at his map, gasped and said, "Yes…Of course!"

"What is it?" asked the judge.

"Allow me to explain," I said. "If you take a good look at the map, you'll see that the gas station is where Mr. Manners said he was when he saw the murder. So, if his car was at the gas station, and if he claims Arnold had to steal it as quickly as possible, then he would've headed right towards the gas station instead of towards the library, right?"

"Ah, aha!" cried the judge. By now, Harold was very anxious and seemed very confused.

"Plus," I continued, "If Arnold was headed toward the library, why would he need a car? The building is not even far from the crime scene!"

The crowd was now talking with their neighbors. The judge only had to bang his gavel once to quiet them. Then he said, "Then it seems that I can't charge Mr. Backer for theft."

But he was interrupted when Edgeworth said, "OBJECTION! Okay then, Wright, if you are so sure about your theory, answer this: If Arnold didn't take Mr. Manners car, then who did?"

I simply gawped at him. Not a single idea came into my head. "Remember, Wright, Mickey Foner's car was found three miles away from the crime scene so there had to be at least two extra people at the crime scene."

_Urgh_! _Dammit he is right_! _Who in the world could have also been at the crime scene than Harold_?

"It seems," said the judge, "that the defense is not sure about all the details." He shook his head. "Mr. Wright, if you make another claim…"

But somebody coughed, cutting the judge off from his lecture. It was Harold. He gave another cough and said, "I believe, everyone, that I came here to testify as a witness. I am cutting some of my working hours just to tell you folks about the murder scene."

"Mr. Manners, what do you mean?" asked the judge.

"What I mean, is that I still have something from that night that I have to explain."

"You mean," said Edgeworth slowly. "That there is still something you did when you witnessed?"

Harold no longer seemed intimidated by Edgeworth. He just simply said, "Yes. Do I have permission, Your Honor?"

The judge blinked. Then he let out a sigh and said, "Fine. Proceed with your final testimony then."

"This could be the last shot we have, Nick," said Maya, "We have to find a hole in his testimony. I just have the funniest hunch."

Confused at what she said, but not distracted, I heard Harold begin, "As soon as my car was gone, I thought that the only thing I could do is get back to the car dealership and call from there. So I began to leave on foot. But as I passed the crime scene, I knew that there was no need to call for an emergency. The investigation team must have arrived to clean up; the body was gone!"

"HOLD IT! Whoa whoa! Back it up!" I exclaimed. "The body wasn't there? The investigation team already cleaned up?"

"Yeah," said Harold, feeling sure with himself. "I guess that speed is really the essence of an emergency!"

"OBJECTION!" I shouted. "That, Mr. Manners, is frankly very wrong. You see, the detective, Dick Gumshoe, who just testified in here earlier, arrived with the investigation team not at 12 a.m., but at 1 a.m.!"

Harold was now surprised again. Then the judge spoke up, "What, there was no body before the crime scene arrived? How can that be possible? Mr. Edgeworth! Check the report immediately!"

Edgeworth looked irritated as he took out a folder and checked through its contents. Then he finally said, "'Emergency call conducted at: 12:33 a.m. Begin of investigation: 1:00 a.m. End of investigation: 10:00 a.m.' Of course!" he muttered the last part under his breath before saying, "But how did the investigation team come to the crime scene and find the body, Wright? Where is your explanation for that?"

I closed my eyes and began to think as hard as I could. When I thought I had the answer, I said, "Maybe the body was taken away by the real killer to hide evidence and replant the body when the time was right!"

"Replant the body?" said the judge. "Why would…?"

But he was interrupted when Edgeworth said, "But you are forgetting one thing, Wright. The investigation team claims that the crime scene was not altered in any way other than the truck running over the victim's body."

"Ah…hmm," I said. _Dang_!

"Your theory does seem plausible," continued Edgeworth, "but you are still a few bricks short of a wall, Wright."

"Come on, Nick," Maya said annoyingly, "a WALL?!"

"It does," said the judge thoughtfully, "seem that way." He turned to me, "Mr. Wright, if you don't have any evidence to support your claim, then your theory will be denied." He banged the gavel once and said, "What was there to take the body away for rearranging evidence?"

I gulped and quickly flipped through my Court Record. The picture of Mickey Foner's car picture came into view when an idea came to me. I pulled it out and said, "Yes, Your Honor. There was a way for the body to be taken away. Do you remember when Edgeworth said that Mr. Foner's car was found three miles from the crime scene?"

"Are you saying that the car from the crime scene took the body away?" said the judge.

"That is exactly what I am saying," I said, confident with myself.

"Don't look too assured, Wright," said Edgeworth, "You are going to need supporting evidence to tell us that the driver in the car was trying to get away from the crime scene. So, show us evidence!"

I rolled my eyes a grabbed the gas coupon that Gumshoe gave me yesterday. "This is it!" I told them. "This is proof that the driver was fleeing the crime scene."

"A…a gas coupon?" said the judge and Harold at the same time.

"You mean that…" started Edgeworth.

"Precisely," I finished. "It occurred to me yesterday when Gumshoe handed this to us." I repeated what Maya and I said yesterday when we wondered why the empty car was close to a gas station with a coupon.

"Good work, Nick!" exclaimed Maya.

Then I concluded, "The killer who took the body in his car just couldn't fill his car without proving he was a killer. He had to flee the scene and get as far away as he could to finish his work. Since he was running on gas fumes, he obviously had to stop somewhere close but far away enough to finish his work." The entire courtroom was still and everyone looked dumbfounded.

Finally the judge said, "Well, that clears up a lot of detail. Mr. Edgeworth? Do you have any comments?" Edgeworth did nothing but glower at me. "Understood," said the judge. Then he turned to Harold, "Mr. Manners, we thank you for testifying today." Harold gulped and nodded silently. The judge continued, "You are free to go, Mr. Manners." Without a word, Harold opened the courtroom doors and exited.

At last, the judge turned to me and said, "Mr. Wright, your theory does hold water, but you have left us a few unanswered questions. For example: Who took Mr. Manners car and what was the reason? Who took the body away from the crime scene? And what did the perpetrator rearrange from the crime scene? Your homework today before tomorrow's trial is to find more evidence to answer these questions, understood?"

"Yes, Your Honor," I said feeling all right now that I have a grip on this case, "I will be ready by tomorrow."

"Get on with it already," said Maya.

"Very well, then," said the judge. "Tomorrow's trial will reconvene at 10:00 tomorrow. For now, court is adjourned!" He banged his gavel once and all guests in the crowd left their seats along with the judge.

(June 8, 12:45 p.m., District Court Defendant's Lobby No. 2)

"Whew!" said Arnold. "I don't know if I could last another second in there! So, I guess that this case will continue."

"Don't call it a close call just yet, Arnold," said Maya, "We still have more evidence to find for tomorrow's battle!"

"I guess I should have paid more attention to the what happened when I ran away, then," said Arnold sadly, "If only I could stop making rash decisions like I did when I took the knife away and run away. That way, this trial could be over."

"It's okay, Mr. Backer," I told him, "This means that we are just getting deeper into the badger hole or whatever. I'm sure that I can find enough evidence I need today."

"Well, I just hope that I can make it through tomorrow's trial," he said. "It seemed like a summer scorcher in there. I was sweating the entire time! But I still have faith that you are going to help me through this, Mr. Wright."

At that moment a security guard walked up to Arnold, put handcuffs around his wrists, and ushered him to the doorway. "Don't worry, Arnold," Maya called to him, "We will find the right killer by tomorrow in court and Nick will save the day!"

I was completely annoyed by Maya's weirdness when Arnold smiled and tried the best he could to wave back at us in his handcuffs. When he disappeared through the exit down the hall, Maya turned to me, "So, Nick, should we now head back to the office?"

"Yeah, time to go!" I said trying to hurry out of the court not wishing to be embarrassed by Maya again.

Whew! I am pretty full with homework. Especially over winter break! But at least this is done and I am looking forward to finishing it soon. It's probably going to be 2 or 3 more chapters. It's probably a lot of work, but I am still planning the whole thing out! Stay 'tooned!

End of Part 4


	5. Chapter 5

b **Hello everyone! Sorry about not updating! It's a new semester in my school and I have a busy 4.0 GPA going on so I had to lay off this for a little while. But now, since it's the weekend and I have no homework, I decided to continue this! Anyways, here's the story:**

**Turnabout of Crossroads Part 5** /b

(June 8, 1:30 p.m., Wright and Co. Law Offices)

After the taxi dropped Maya and I off and I paid the driver, we reentered Wright and Co. Law Offices and slumped in the seats after the exhausting day in court.

I looked at her and said, "So what do you think we should do now?"

"Well, what else should we do, Nick?" she replied, "We have to go to the Detention Center and ask Arnold some questions."

"I suppose," I said. "Besides, I still have questions for him. This case seems to be getting more and more mysterious."

"I know," said Maya. "Harold's testimony was pretty strange and was full of flaws but he seemed pretty sure of himself."

"All witnesses are like that Maya. Harold looked pretty peeved after today's trial. Maybe we should pay him a visit at the station."

"Okay, Nick. But first, I think that we should visit Arnold. It still seems as if he's hiding things from us. Like who he saw "Mickey" killed. I still find that a bit strange, don't you think?"

A light bulb seemed to flick on in my mind. I have been holding a question for Arnold for a while now. _Who was it that Arnold saw Mickey kill_? And why on Earth would Mickey Foner be the victim in this case?

"You're right, Maya," I finally said. "We should see Arnold as soon as possible. He saw the victim with his own eyes and yet the killer is the victim in this case. How could that happen?"

"Hmm…" Maya hummed as she thought for a moment. "Maybe Arnold was really driving with a different person and the person who was killed was really Mickey."

"Then that's two possible theories, Maya. Maybe Arnold did mistake a person at the crime scene, but if Mickey was the victim then why would the body be gone before the investigation team could get there and why would the killer want to change something around if Mickey was there at the crime scene already."

"Hmm…good point, Nick," said Maya. "But what about that other riddle? The fact that Harold's car was stolen from the crime scene also."

"I've been wondering that too," I said. "Why would there be a theft going on in the middle of a murder?"

"Maybe it was just a theft, Nick," said Maya. "Until then, we don't have another explanation."

"Right," I said lazily, grumpy enough already that I have to find solid evidence by tomorrow. I looked at the clock on the wall. It was already 1:45. I stood up, and said, "Come on, Maya. I think that we need to visit Arnold."

Nodding, Maya also stood up, crossed the room, opened the fridge under my desk, and pulled out a take-out burger from the other day and began unwrapping it. "Okay, Nick," she said. "I'm ready!"

I rolled my eyes again for the umpteenth time as we walked out the door to my office.

(June 8, 2:00 p.m., Detention Center)

Instead of taking the taxi to get to the Detention Center (because I didn't want to waste money on taxi's again), I took my bike with Maya sitting behind me. It was one of those rare occasions where I actually got exercise by traveling.

(Editor's note: Yes, Phoenix Wright has a bike. Here is proof: **h t t p / w w w . c o u r t - r e c o r d s . n e t / a r t s / a r t b o o k / a r t o f g s - 0 2 1 . j p g** Copy and paste it to the html above. Sorry about spacing it out. But this is the only way around fanfictions banning of htmls'. You're gonna have to space it out in order to see it. Sorry!)

At the Detention Center, disappointment came to both Maya and I: Arnold wasn't there.

"Darn!" Maya said. "He must be in for questioning!"

"Darn indeed!" I said with her. Looking through the glass and seeing nothing but the security guard at the door (who was snoozing) gave me slight depression. "Oh, well. Maybe we can check in later while we investigate further."

"Yeah," said Maya. "Maybe something will come up that we can show Arnold."

"It looks like investigation is the only choice," I sighed.

"Say," said Maya suddenly. "How about we go to the Criminal Affairs Dept. to see if Gumshoe found anything else during the investigation?"

"What do you mean?" I asked curiously.

"Think about it, Nick," she continued. "You have just proven in court that the body was moved to rearrange the crime scene. Don't you think that Gumshoe would investigate further?"

I thought for a moment and said, "You could be right, Maya. Gumshoe could have at least done a little more investigation with the autopsy. Maybe they missed something."

"Well, what are we waiting for Nick? Let's go!"

I nodded as we left the building.

(June 8, 2:15 p.m., Criminal Affairs Dept.)

As we walked into the Criminal Affairs Dept. building across town, the police were barking at each other about the investigation. "Whoa!" I said then turned to Maya. "Good call!"

"Hey! You!" shouted one police officer to another. "Have you investigated the autopsy once more? We need this done!"

"Sorry!" said the other. "Let me grab my equipment! I'll start as soon as I can!"

"Chief!" called another police officer to the chief who was at the computer. "Get off the computer and help us!"

"What!" whined the chief. "I was in the middle of watching an iTube video!"

"Not now, chief!" said the police officer and he held up two cords. "I'm unplugging it now, sir!" And he pulled the two attached cords apart.

"NNOOOOOO!" yelled the chief dramatically as his power went out.

"Geez," said Maya. "What a madhouse!"

"Hey! Pal!" said Gumshoe who was rushing towards us. "What are you doing here?"

"We just came to see if the investigation team pulled forward after today's trial," I said. "There may be things that are vitally important to the case right now."

"Well of course there has pal!" said Gumshoe. "You added up that that the body was moved during the crime scene so we have made a further investigation of the autopsy and the crime scene."

"So," said Maya. "any luck so far?"

"Little," said Gumshoe. "As you saw earlier, the autopsy is just about to begin and our forensic team are now leaving to Fuel Up! Gas Station. We still have a ways to go in this investigation now."

"Was anything discovered yet?" I asked.

"Unfortunately no," he said sadly. "We just started and haven't gotten anywhere."

"Hey, Gumshoe," said Maya, "given by the evidence that was found, do you think that Arnold was the murderer?"

Gumshoe got into his thinking position by trying to look at parts of his forehead. Then he said, "Well, I'd say it was possible he did it if he had an accomplice. I mean, think about it. If the body was moved to look different at the crime scene and another car was stolen that night, then Edgeworth was right that there were two extra people at the crime scene not including Harold."

"So, um," I continued, "About Harold: was there any information concerning his car being stolen? It may have a connection to the murder."

"Not sure, pal," responded Gumshoe. "You'll have to take that up with him if anything. We don't see anything about the murder concerning his car being stolen."

"Bummer," said Maya.

Suddenly, out of the blue, an idea came to my head, "Hey, Gumshoe? Has there been any investigation of Mickey's car? There's sure to be something that's been missed."

Gumshoe looked surprised, then he said, "You know what, pal? I never even thought of that. How did you guess?"

_Oh come on_,_Gumshoe_! _It's the flipping vehicle that moved the body_! I thought.

"I'll do you a favor, in fact," continued Gumshoe. "I'll let you have your own little investigation of the car without the police's help and I'll tell everyone I sent a team to search."

"Wow!" exclaimed Maya. "Thank you, Gumshoe! Why are you doing nice things to us now?"

"Aww, I don't know," chuckled Gumshoe. "I suppose I let Edgeworth have too much credit before!"

"Right," I said. "Well, anyways, thanks for your help!"

"No problem, pal!" said Gumshoe and he joined the fray of police about reports from the crime scene.

Then Maya turned to me and said, "Nick, do you really think that the killer left something at the car that the investigation team missed?"

"Well," I said, "judging from past times where the team found evidence, I always seem to find more for some strange reason or another."

"Hmm…" she said. "That's true! Well, let's go and check it out, Nick!"

(June 8, 2:35 p.m., Empty Lot)

I flicked my kickstand down as Maya jumped off the bike. Then I grabbed my briefcase as we approached the car in a large empty lot that was between three buildings. Two were to the side and one was behind it.

Right in front of us was a red pickup truck with a missing tire. _The investigation team must have taken it off to compare the tire streaks at the crime scene_. I thought. Nothing was really particular about it.

Maya looked at me and said, "Well, do you want to split up and see if we can find anything?"

"Sure," I said. "I'll check the inside and front while you see if there is anything under the car or in the bed of the pickup."

Maya nodded. And with that, we began searching.

I opened the door, surprised that it was unlocked and someone from the investigation team forgot to lock it, and began looking on the seats. Maya got on her hands and knees and crawled under the truck. On the seats inside, both sides were slightly compressed due to the fact that someone sat there. _Mickey and Arnold were here_. I thought to myself. Knowing that there was nothing on the seats, I checked in the glove compartment to see if there were any hidden objects. On the downside, the investigation team cleaned the whole place out.

Disappointed, I stepped out and crossed to the front of the truck to check if anything was hidden in the hood or maybe the air filter. "Did you find anything, Nick?" came Maya's voice from under the car.

"Nothing yet!" I called back and continued examining the front. For the next few minutes, I was beginning to get weary and already started memorizing every single feature on the car: The windshield was convex, the license plate was THX-1138, and the hood ornament was some sort of nude athletic man throwing a discuss.

Finally, after finding nothing, I walked to the back of the car where Maya was standing in the pickup. "Maya," I started, "There's nothing here. It's almost useless to search for anything in this car. I think that we should leave this job to the forensics."

Maya sighed and said, "Oh, all right Nick. I don't think I want to be a forensic scientist when I grow up anyway. This is so boring."

_You're not gonna be a scientist anyway, Maya_. _You're gonna be the Master of Kurain Village_!

And with one strange attempt of a pirouetting leap out of the bed, Maya tripped over the side and fell flat on the ground. "Maya! Are you okay?" I shouted as soon as she hit the ground.

"Uhh…" Maya moaned and began moving to her feet. Gently, I began to help her by pulling up on her shoulders. As soon as she got to her knees, Maya paused and was staring at something.

"What is it, Maya?" I asked. She didn't answer as she slowly lifted her arm and pointed at something on the ground. Looking where she pointed, I could she a bit of cloth almost completely buried underground.

"What do you think it is, Nick?" she said.

"I don't know…" I responded. My hand reached forward, grabbed the edge with my two fingers and pulled it out.

In my hands was an ordinary, large hat that was completely covered in dirt. "I think that the investigators missed this in their search," I said still looking at it.

"Maybe it's because they were only concentrating on investigating the car," said Maya.

"Maybe," I said. I looked carefully at the front and said to Maya, "Hey, look! There's some sort of insignia on the front. But it's covered in dirt!"

"Well, brush it off, Nick," said Maya breathlessly. "This could be an important clue!"

Using my left hand to hold the tip of the hat, my right hand made quick brushes across the top to remove any dirt. After a few seconds, it was clear enough to read it and dirty letters ran across the hat: GiroTech Executive.

"'GiroTech'" Maya read. "I wonder what that place is?"

"I don't know either," I said, "But I think that either the killer or the victim worked here."

"Or both!" chimed in Maya.

Nodding and agreeing with Maya for once, I folded it carefully and placed it in my briefcase. Then Maya and I walked to the bicycle and got on.

"Where are we going, Nick?" Maya said.

"To the Detention Center," I replied, "Arnold must be done with questioning by now and I still have questions for him." I flipped the kickstand back up and began peddling away from the truck.

(June 8, 2:50, Detention Center)

Maya and I walked into the Detention Center. Maya looked at the clock and said, "Hey, Nick! Why do the clocks always seem to be in the multiples of 5?"

I shrugged as I walked, "I don't know. Bad timing, maybe."

As soon as I walked up to Arnold's booth, he was sitting behind it waiting for me. "I received your call, Wright." Arnold said. "What is it you want to ask me?"

"Okay, Arnold," I began. "I want you to be frank with me, okay?"

"Well,…" he said, thinking. "All right."

"Okay, first, I've been holding this question for a while," I started. "And I'm going to say it again: Who was it you saw Mickey murder?"

Maya looked from me to him as Arnold paused. Then Arnold said, "Well, it was at night. But, again, there were lights coming from the gas station so I could see some features. The victim looked just like…"Again, Arnold paused as he talked.

"Who did it look like, Arnold?" I prompted. This time, I knew he would answer because we had no interruptions at the moment. But I couldn't be anymore wrong. At that moment, a glow came from my pocket. I pulled out the object, which was Maya's Magatama that shone brightly whenever someone was telling a lie. Fearing the worst, I looked up and two Psyche-Locks were in front of Arnold.

"On second thought," said Arnold from behind the locks, "I don't remember seeing who it was."

"What is it, Nick?" Maya asked me.

"Arnold's hiding something from us," I whispered back to her. "He won't tell us who he saw that night."

"What are you whispering about, guys?" Arnold asked.

"Um…nothing," I said straightening up. Then I said, "Arnold there is something else I have to ask you."

"What is it?" he asked.

"This concerns Mickey," I said continuing.

Arnold shivered for a moment, and then said, "All right, what is it?"

I opened my briefcase and pulled out the hat I found at the truck in the empty lot. "Do you remember seeing this on the night of the crime?" I asked carefully.

Arnold stared at the insignia for a moment and said, "Yes, I remember seeing that!" I broke a sigh of relief. Arnold continued, "Mickey wore it on the night of the crime. That insignia there, on the front, is the company he works for."

"Wh-What?!" exclaimed Maya. "It's Mickey's?! Then that means that…"

"…Mickey was at the vacant lot at the time of the murder!" I finished for her.

"Vacant…Lot?" asked Arnold.

"It's where we found this hat and where Mickey took his car away from the crime scene," I explained to him.

"Hmm…," said Arnold, "I see."

_I think now is the time to ask him about this company_. I told myself.

"Arnold," I started, "Do you know where this company is? You know, the one where Mickey worked?"

Arnold shook his head and said, "Unfortunately no. But he knew where I worked. That's how he contacted me."

"Drat!" said Maya. "I thought we were gonna get so close!"

"Oh!" said Arnold. "I wish there was something I can do to help!"

"It's okay, Mr. Backer," I said, "You answered enough questions that we needed. But don't get too comfortable, all right? Maya and I are going to leave for a little more investigation before we come back. Can you wait a little longer?"

Arnold nodded and said, "Okay, sure! I can do that."

"However," I continued, "When we get back, I expect more questions to be answered, understand?"

Arnold gulped. "Yes, I understand," he said roughly.

"See you later, Arnold!" Maya said enthusiastically.

Arnold waved as Maya and I rose out of our chairs and walked away from his booth.

"So, Nick," Maya turned to me, "why do you think Arnold is hiding something from us?"

"I don't know, Maya," I answered, "but I think that this case has something more than just the victim. And I also think that this company, GiroTech, is behind something."

Maya nodded. "So, do you have any leads of where to go next?"

I thought for a moment as we walked out the door. Then I said, "I think that we need to visit Harold for a moment. I don't know why, but he seemed a little down when he left the courtroom earlier today."

b **Okay, this was part 1 of the second investigation day. The second one is in the next chapter where everything gets more in depth to the plot. Heck, you may even spot the whole story and what happened after the end of the chapter! But for now, I need a quick break. Please review!**

**End of Part 5** /b


End file.
